Moving-picture machine.



Patented Apr. 4,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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v MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlLED ocr. 1a. 1912.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH to WASHINGTON, D. c.

-J. A. CAMERON.

MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1a. 1912.

1, 177,928. Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. CAMERON, OF NEW YORK, 1\T. Y., ASSIGNOR TO CAMERON PICTURE MACHINE 00., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MOVING-PICTURE MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Application filed October 18, 1912. Serial No. 726,513.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. CAMERON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve- I ments in Moving-Picture Machines, of which the following is a specification.

On account of the fragile and inflammable character of the films ordinarily used in moving picture machines, great care has to be exercised to prevent the film being burned by the light from the lantern and to prevent injury from other causes. In prior machines of this character the film has been more or less exposed during its passage to and from the machine and hence was the more liable to become injured.

An object of my present invention is to protect the film during its entire passage through the machine.

A feature of this invention accordingly consists in providing a closed passage through which the film is conducted to, through and from the machine, whereby it is entirely protected during the whole of its passage. may be formed in part by the machine itself, which may be for that purpose made in the form of a casing inclosing suitable film moving mechanism, and the rest of the passage way may be formed by the means which supports the used and unused portions of the film. Such film supporting means may be in the form of a single container, or separate containers for the used and the unused portions of film. -The closed passageway is provided with suitable doors to admit the placing of the film in operative position, and it is one of the objects of my invention to insure that these doors shall be properly closed before the machine is attempted to be operated. I accordingly provide means whereby to prevent the closing of one or more of the doors until one or more of the other doors have first been closed. In the form which I have disclosed, there is a container for the unused portion of the film and a container for the used portion of the film, each of which has a suitable closure, the machine itself has a door by which access may be had to its internal mechanism, and the This closed passage for the film closing of the door to the machine is made dependent upon first closing the doors to both the film containers.

Another and somewhat broader aspect of this invention is the prevention of the proper operation of the machine until the various related parts have all been restored to proper operative position. The interlocking arrangement of the doors to the closed film passageway whereby one door cannot be closed unless certain other doors are closed, is one application of this principle. And the same principle I propose to apply to a fire shield and to a fire shutter for the machine. A fire shutter, as well known in the art, is one which is interposed between the film and the source of light, and being governed by the speed of the machine, acts, when the speed becomes dangerously slow to drop down and cut off the light. The fire shutter is usually movably supported so that it may be shifted out of the way when placing the film in position in the machine.

Another feature of the invention then resides in the provision of means to prevent the support which carries the fire shutter from being shifted to move such shutter to an operative position until the closures of the film containers (or container, if only the one) have first been closed. Instead of making the machine with an entirely closed casing, I may merely provide a fire shield such as will protect the film for most practical purposes. In such a case this fire shield will be movably supported so that it may be moved out of the way when first placing the film in position. And in this connection another feature of the invention consists in providing means to prevent the ferred embodiment but I would have it run derstood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

in the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view, of a preferred form of the invention, certain of the parts being broken away. Fig. is a broken vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a broken detail view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In that particular form of my invention which I have chosen to illustrate as a disclosure, the machine itself is made as a closed casing, and containers for the used and unused portions of the film are applied directly to the machine, so that the whole thus constitutes a continuous closed passageway for the film. The machine is designated l0, and the containers for the unused and the used portions of the film are designated 11, and 12, respectively. This machine consists of a suitable framework and film moving mechanism supported thereby for intermittently advancing the film past the exposure opening ll. The film advancing mechanism may be of any desired type and the same is here indicated as an oscillating beater '15. The film itself is designated l6, and it is shown as extending from a supply reel 17 within the upper film container, down past the exposure opening and through the machine, out through an opening 18, into the lower container, where it is wound upon the takeup reel 19. The upper and lower film containers are provided withdoors or closures 20 and 21, which may be hingedly supported so that they may readily swing open or closed. When the doors to these containers are closed it will be clear that the film contained therein will'be entirely inclosed and protected.

The machine proper, is, as before stated, preferably made to itself constitute a closed casing, and this may be done by making the frame with a closed side wall 22 and an angularly disposed front wall 23, and providing av hinged door 24 with the usual opening 30 therein for the passage of light rays, having angularly disposed walls 25 and 26 forming respectively when the door is closed, the rear and side wall of the complete casing. This door, in the present instance serves in the double capacity of afire shield and a support for the fire shutter. To accomplish this first purpose the door is preferably made to shield the film passing through the machine, from the light of the lantern both in its closed and in its open position. In the illustration the door is mounted on hinge pintles 27, so arranged that the door will swing on a substantially vertical axis. And it will be noted that by the arrangement shown, the door serves to shield the film from the light of the lantern 28, both in closed and in open position. A further shielding elfect may be produced by providing the door with a shield plate or disk 29. 30 indicates a fire shutter pivotally supported at 31 upon the back of the door and having an operating arm which, when the door is closed, is brought into operative engagement with an arm 33 controlled from a centrifugal governor or other speed controlled device. It will be seen that the moving of the door to closed position carries the lire shutter into operative position between the film and the source of light and also brings the arm of the shutter into operative engagement with the speed-governed arm which controls it.

To insure the various related parts being carried to proper operative position before the machine can be properly operated, one or more stops'or like devices are preferably provided, so arranged as to prevent closing of the door of the machine until the closures to the film containers have first been closed. Thus I have shown two stops 3% and 35 normally lying in the path of the doors and arranged to be rendered inoperative upon the closing of the door to the upper and the lower film containers. For the purpose of so rendering these stops inoperative they are shown as pivoted on the centers 36 and 37 and provided with angularly offset operating arms 38 and 39 disposed so as to be engaged by lugs all) and ll carried by the closures of the respective film containers. In Fig. 2 is shown how the closing of these closures to the film containers shifts the stops out of the path of the door of the machine thereby permitting such door to be properly closed. And it will be clear from this that the door cannot be so closed until the doors of both the film containers have first been closed. Springs, weights, or like devices may be used for shifting the stops into the active protruding position. The door to the machine casing may be secured closed in any suitable fashion, such as by means of a catch 42.

IVhile I have disclosed my invention as embodied in a projector for exhibiting pictures, I would have it understood that certain of the features of the invention may be adapted to the camera for taking the pictures.

hat is claimed, is:

-1. The combination in a moving picture machine provided with a movable device designed to occupy an operative position during the normal operation of the machine, of a stop normally operative for holding the movable device in inoperative position, a film container, and a closure for the llO film container, arranged when brought to closed position to render the said stop inoperative so as to allow the movable device to assume its operative position.

2. The combination with a moving picture machine and asource of light for said machine, of a movable fire shield provided with an opening for the passage of light rays arunged to be interposed between the source of light and the machine during the normal operation of the machine, a stop aranged to prevent the movement of the fire shield to normal position, a film container, and a closure for the film container arranged when brought to closed position to render the stop inoperative.

3. The combination with a moving picture machine and a source of light for said' machine, of a movably supported fire shutter arranged during the normal operation of the machine to intermittently occupy a position intermediate the machine and the source of light, a stop for preventing movement of the fire shutter to normal operative position through the medium of its support, a film container, and a closure for the film container, arranged when brought to closed position to render the stop inoperative.

4;. In a moving picture machine provided with film moving mechanism, a movable door arranged. in closed position to protect the film moving mechanism, a stop for preventing movement of said door to closed position, a film container, and a movable closure to the film container arranged when brought to closed position to render the stop inoperative.

5. The combination with a moving picture machine provided with adevice mounted to have a swinging movement and designed to occupy an operative position during the normal. operation of the machine, of a stop movably supported in the path of said swinging device, a film container, and a closure to the film container arranged during the closing movement thereof to carry the stop out of the path of theswinging device to permit movement of said device to the operative position thereof.

6. In combination with a moving picture machine provided with a movable device designed to occupy an operative position during the normal operation of the machine, of film containers for the used and unused portions of the film, closures for the respective film containers, and stops for preventing movement of the device aforesaid to operative position, arranged to be rendered inoperative by the movement of the closures to closed position.

7. In combination with a moving picture machine provided with a swinging door, film containers for the used and unused portions of the film, closures for the respective film containers, and movable stops mounted to lie in the path' of the swinging door, arranged to be engaged by the respective closures and carried out of the path of the door.

8. In combination with a moving picture machine provided with a movable device adapted to be used as a shutter support, a source of light for the machine, a fire shutter mounted on the movable device and arranged to be carried thereby into operative relation to the source of light, stops for preventing movement of the movable device to carry the shutter to operative position, containers for the used and unused portions of the film, and closures for the respective film containers arranged when brought to closed position to render the stops inoperative.

9. In combination with a moving picture machine provided with a swinging device adapted to be used as a shutter support, a source of light for the machine, a fire shutter mounted on the swinging device and adapted to be carried thereby into operative relation to the source of light, movable stops disposed in the path of the swinging device, containers for the used and unused portions of the film, and swinging closures to the respective film containers arranged to engage and carry the movable stops out of the path of the swinging device.

10. The combination with a moving picture machine provided with a swinging door, of movable stops mounted to lie in the path of the swinging door to prevent closing of the same, containers for the used and unused portions of the film, and movable closures to the respective film containers arranged to engage and carry the stops out of the path of the swinging door.

11. In combination with a moving picture machine and a source of light for such machine; of a movable device adapted to support a fire shutter, a fire shutter mounted on said movable device and arranged to be carried thereby into operative position be tween the source of light and the machine, a member, adapted to be controlled by a speed governed device operated by the machine, and arranged to make operative enga gement with the fire shutter when the movable device is moved to carry the shutter to operative position so that the fire shutter will fail to operate when insufiicent speed is had, a stop for preventing movement of the movable device to carrythe fire shutter to operative position, a film container provided with a closure, and means carried by said closure for rendering the stop inoperative.

12. In a moving picture machine provided with film moving mechanism, of a movable wall having an opening for the passage of light rays and adapted to support a fire shutter, a fire shutter supported on said movable wall and adapted to be Signed atNew York city, in the county of concurrently moved into operative position New York and State of New York this 7th with said well, a stop, and means to throw day of October, 1912.

said stop in or out of engagement with said JAMES A. CAMERON. Wall to allow or prevent said well and fire Vitnesses:

shutter being concurrently moved into oper- AXEL V. BEEKEN,

ative position. PHILIP S. MCLEAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

